L

ocal elections (Pilkada) in three regions with a single-ticket candidate pair ran smoothly on Wednesday as voters flocked to nearby polling stations to cast their approval or rejection of the candidate'€™s nomination.

In Timor Tengah Utara (TTU) regency, East Nusa Tenggara (NTT), the local General Elections Commission (KPUD) reported that Wednesday'€™s election had attracted a participation rate of around 70 percent of eligible voters in the regency.

'€œBased on our observations at 110 out of the 450 polling stations in TTU, voter turnout has so far stood above 70 percent. We are hoping that this will be later reflected by the official reports submitted by the polling stations,'€ KPUD spokesperson Fidelis Olin told The Jakarta Post on Wednesday.

Fidelis said the election in the regency had also taken place in an orderly and peaceful manner, with local residents visiting polling stations from 7 a.m. to 1 p.m. to exercise their democratic rights.

TTU was one of three regions in the country putting forward just one candidate pair in this year'€™s Pilkada, which was held concurrently on Wednesday in 264 regions across the archipelago. The two other regions were Tasikmalaya regency in West Java and Blitar regency in East Java.

Local election organizers initially prohibited regions with only one candidate pair from carrying on with their electioneering. The Constitutional Court, however, issued in late September a ruling approving the use of a kind of plebiscite or a referendum by which voters could choose to either elect or reject a candidate pair.

Speaking to reporters after casting his vote at a polling station in the regency capital of Kefamenanu, TTU candidate for regent Raymundus Sau Fernandes expressed optimism that he would secure the approval of voters in the Pilkada.

He also applauded the referendum system implemented for the first time by the central General Elections Commission (KPU) to accommodate local elections with only one candidate pair participating.

'€œIt'€™s my first experience participating in the referendum system, in which we choose to agree or disagree,'€ he said.

Raymundus is the incumbent regent of TTU and his running mate, Aloysius Kobes, is the deputy regent. The pair were nominated by the ruling Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P).

Separately, the Tasikmalaya KPUD confirmed that Wednesday'€™s ballot had run well in the regency, home to more than 1.3 million eligible voters.

'€œAt least 60 percent of eligible voters participated in the election,'€ KPUD chief Deden Nurul Hidayat told the Post over the phone.

The Tasikmalaya regional election fielded candidate pair Uu Ruzhanul Ulum and Ade Sugianto, who were uncontested in seeking a second leadership term.

Local resident Iji Setiaji, who chairs a polling station committee in Kalimanggis district, said based on the official vote count, most voters in his station had agreed to support the pair'€™s reelection.

'€œOf the 382 eligible voters in our polling station, 273 came to the station to cast their vote. According to the vote count results, 194 chose '€˜agree'€™, 57 chose '€˜disagree'€™ and 23 abstained,'€ Iji said.

Meanwhile in Blitar, the local KPUD asked the Subdistrict Polling Committees (PPS) to immediately complete the official vote count forms and submit them to the KPUD for recapitulation.

'€œWe have asked the PPS to finish counting votes today [Wednesday]. As for form C6, we will later scan them and input the data,'€ KPUD head Imron Nafifah said as quoted by Antara news agency.

The Blitar KPUD recorded 964,928 eligible voters for the local election.

Local residents, meanwhile, expressed their approval of the referendum system.

'€œI was not confused at all when casting my vote, as I just had to choose between agree and disagree,'€ said Joko Purwoko of Bendosewu village, Talun district.